Introducing Nicholas Allbrook aka Nick Allbrook

If you haven’t heard of Nicholas Allbrook, or even alter ego Paisley Adams, you’ll certainly have heard something that he has touched. He’s the everywhere man of Australian music, particularly the psych scene. A welcome omnipresence since 2006, Nick has been “making noise into microphones” with some of Perth’s finest, and like many a great singer-songwriter has earned a spot in the solo sunlight.

A founding member of Mink Mussel Creek with Kevin Parker and other friends, Nick is also one half ofAllbrook/Avery, drummer for Peter Bibby and a contributor to many more. He’s also an ex-touring member of buddy Parker’s Tame Impala, and frontkid of the wildly prolific neo-psych rockers Pond, who are due to release their sixth studio album in the near future.

After initially playing guitar for Tame Impala, he switched to bass before departing the band in 2013 to “try and screw his head back on and make an attempt to assimilate back into society”. With slightly more time on his gifted and insatiable hands, he has reached for another outlet, and is set to release his debut solo album through Spinning Top records on September 5th.

Titled Ganough, Wallis and Fatuna, the record looks like retaining a dash of his previous projects, but is most parts pure Allbrook. With the first tastes displaying typically assorted psych riffs and distinctly shrill, soul-searching vocals, he has forged a means for more personal expression through his unique and sophisticated songwriting.

Whispers of Beauty, as the initial appetiser, sees Nick set newly open and willing lyrics against a rough rhythm section, and first official single 100 K’s ‘round Carmel is equally lo-fi, a hazily melodic soundscape with his shrieking voice and crashing cymbals piercing through.

Having cited the likes of “fucking classic” Black Sabbath and Kurt Vonnegut’s skewed views of the world as inspiration, Allbrook seems set to channel both in a showcase of masterful lyrics and dynamic guitar skills.Ganough, Wallis and Fatuna will be available digitally next month, as well as on vinyl in October.